Zai Yan’an wenyi zuotanhui shang de jianghua

In 1942, Mao Zedong delivered his "Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art" (Zai Yan'an wenyi zuotanhui shang de jianghua). This work articulated Mao's belief that literature and art should serve politics. He advocated for a proletarian literature, created by and for workers, peasants, and soldiers, which would gradually elevate the people's literary appreciation while being popularized. This concept led to increased party control over literary activities and influenced Chinese literature significantly from 1949 through the 1970s, aligning it with political campaigns and ideological struggles.1